The play begins outside the house of the peasant to whom
Electra is married. We are soon informed about the cruelty and
injustice which Electra and her brother has suffered for no fault
of theirs. We are further informed that Agamemnon has
sacrificed his daughter Iphigenia. After that he has been away to
the battle of Troy for ten long years. He returns victorious. But
the war has been a loss for so many people. Many women have
lost their husbands. Mothers have lost their sons. His own
children have been deprived of the love and care of their father.
Meanwhile Clymenestra has been living in adultery with
Aegisthus.

When Agamemnon returns from the Trojan war, he brings
Cassandra, the daughter of the King of Troy as his concubine.
Clymenestra, who is already embittered against her husband for
killing Iphigenia, is further angered. She and her lover, Aegisthus
kill Agamemnon. Then an honest and sincere servant takes
Orestes from the palace and leaves him at Phocis to be looked
after. This shows his kindness and concern for his masterís son.
Meanwhile Aegisthus is afraid that Orestes may return as a
grown up man and take revenge from him. When Electra reaches
marriageable age, she receives many proposals, but she is given
in marriage to a poor peasant, as Aegisthus is afraid that if she is
married to a nobleman, she may bear brave sons who may
avenge their grandfatherís murder when they grow up.

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In Euripidesí Electra, the portrayal of character is unusually
penetrating. Soon after the play begins, there is a touch of sham
in Electraís talk. She tells the audience that she is fetching water
from a nearby stream to show her condition. Though she is a
princess, she has no choice, but to do manual labor. She
however, tells her husband that she is doing so because of her
gratitude for his magnanimity. This gratitude is true.

Electra refuses the invitation of the chorus to the festival of Hera
as she does not have proper clothes to wear. This is one of her
principle grievances. She complains about this to Orestes too.
Her rags symbolize her own shattered condition. Her drawing
and fetching water to her hut are gestures to invoke the gods to
witness her condition, which is no better than that of a slave girl.

In ancient Greek drama, the chorus were a group of people who
wore masks and played the role of commentators. They
commented on characters and events. The chorus expressed
moral, religious and social attitudes of the times. They did not
directly participate in the action of the play. They customarily
appeared with garlands. In the plays of Euripides, the chorus
served a lyrical function. This tradition was followed by some
later writers. The chorus also sang and danced at religious
festivals. Roman playwrights like Seneca adopted the chorus
from the Greeks. It was also used by some English writers like
Milton, Shakespeare, Shelley, Hardy and T.S. Eliot. In the
Elizabethan times, the chorus was a single person who
commented during the prologue and the epilogue. In Euripidesí
Electra, the most important portion is the portion sung by Electra
at the end of the prologue followed by its merger with the
chorus. After this, the chorus does nothing of much consequence
till Clymenestra is murdered.

There is a reference to the sacrifice made at Agamemnonís
grave. A lock of hair is found which the servant presumes to be
Orestesí. Offering a lock of hair was a customary part of the
sacrifice for the dead by the Greeks. Importance is also given to
libation. It was believed by the Greeks that libation can "open
parched lips" of the dead. This idea is analogous to the
satisfaction, which an infant feels when it is fed milk from the
mother.

Flowers are brought by the old servant of Agamemnon. In the
time of Euripides, garlands were worn during mealtimes. So the
flowers are to be used as garlands in the play.

Phylades, the friend of Orestes is also the son of King Strophius
in whose home Orestes has grown. Thus Phylades is the Prince
of Phocis.

In case of Agamemnon, as well as Orestes, both being weak
preferred to commit sin under the order of authority rather than
disobey it and stick to what they thought is right. Disobeying the
oracle would be synonymous to disobeying an authorities parent.